


Jump

by ctmts



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-19
Updated: 2017-04-19
Packaged: 2018-10-08 12:29:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10386684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ctmts/pseuds/ctmts
Summary: One time Ben didn't jump and three times he did."That's what you should have inscribed on your tombstone, 'Saved by Leslie Knope.'""You do realise that if I'm dead then you can't have saved me.  That's a terrible idea."





	

Ben unbuttoned his coat pocked, reached into the left breast pocket and removed the last cigarette from the packet.  He ran a shaky hand through his hair before bringing the cigarette to his lips, slowly lighting it an inhaling deeply.  He casually discarded the empty pack of Parliaments on the ground at his feet before removing his jacket and letting it fall.  After the last draw he flicked the cigarette over the railing and watched the embers fade as it drifted out of sight, under the bridge, and into the river below.

He took a step forward, gripped the railings and pulled his body over the fence until he was standing on the ledge of the bridge.  He held on with both arms stretched out behind him, he closed his eyes and allowed the silence to wash over him.  The wind lifted again, and the cold would have been almost intolerable without a coat, but Ben was too numb to register the biting cold November air.

“WHOA THERE!  WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?”  He gripped the railings tighter and looked around to see a flurry of blonde hair racing over to where he stood.  “Are you drunk!?  What are you doing?  It’s so dangerous standing there like that, you could fall!  You could die!”  The girl exclaimed, panting and pulling her knitted hat further down her head.

Ben contemplated letting go at that very moment, allowing himself to fall into the depths of the river and float away silently with the current.  He was depressed but he wasn’t morbid, this girl didn’t need to watch him die.  He maintained his silence and continued to stare.

“Wait,” she paused, “you were going to jump.”

He nodded his head slowly, averting his eyes.

“Okay, so I know this is none of my business, but I personally think suicide is a terrible idea, so if you wouldn’t mind I’d like it if you climbed back over this fence immediately.”  She held out her hand, he tentatively took it as he manoeuvred himself back onto the path.  “Hi,” she smiled, “I’m Leslie, I think you’re in my poli psy class?”

“Yup. Ben,” he mumbled, the strong smell of alcohol apparent on his breath.

She took him by the arm and led him into the passenger seat of her car that was parked only a few feet away, he didn’t realise where he was until she closed the door and was seated in the driver’s seat next to him.

“Did I see you early at Tom’s party?” She enquired.

“Possibly,” he replied.

They drove in silence until Leslie parked up outside JJ’s and she practically dragged him out of the car insisting that he needed to be sobered up.

Headstrong and stubborn; Leslie was determined to get this boy talking at all costs.  “You know,” she began, “I watch  _It’s a Wonderful Life_ every Christmas with my Mom, it’s a family tradition.  I never thought that I would ever be anyone’s Clarence, well, until tonight.”

“Technically to be my Clarence I would have succeeded in jumping, and you’d have dove in right after me.”  He quipped, taking a sip of the black coffee that had just been placed in front of him.  He didn’t remember waiting staff coming to their table.  Everything was foggy.

“I saved you, Ben, let me have this one, okay?” She smiled, a beaming smile that somehow warmed him more than the coffee that passed his lips.

Leslie audibly squealed when a plate of waffles with an unholy amount of whipped cream was placed in front of her.  They ate in silence, Ben trying to force down a piece of dry toast.  She didn’t pry, it killed her to hold off on asking him every single personal question under the sun, but she kept her mouth shut.  Being quiet was a feat that Leslie was not skilled in.

“You’re the loud girl who argues with everyone in class, I thought you were really annoying.”  He mumbles, barely audible. Leslie’s face falls. “No, I mean, sorry I’m not saying what I wanted to say.  Words aren’t working.”

“Loud girl isn’t the word I’ve heard, honestly.  It’s heaps better than ‘that blonde pain in the ass.’”

“I just mean that I was annoyed at first when you shouted earlier because you stopped me, and I kind of recognised you, but now I realise that I don’t actually want to die, I just got really fed up of feeling things.  So… thanks.  For you know, abandoning your car on a bridge and yelling at me.”

“No problem,” she smiled as their plates are cleared.  “Let’s get you home.”

She drove slowly as Ben directed her to his dorm.  She followed him out of the car when she parked up, and he didn’t even question it.  Nor did he question when upon unlocking his front door, she plucked a blanket from the back of his sofa and declared she was on “suicide watch”.  When he climbed into bed and closed his eyes he was happy to be falling asleep instead of falling.

**Author's Note:**

> This was a very convoluted shower thought that somehow culminated in me writing things.
> 
> Constructive comments and Kudos are always appreciated, and savoured, and cherished, and coveted forever.
> 
> Love.
> 
> xo


End file.
